gsw

library3.6.21pypypi✓ verified 84d ago

GSW is a Python implementation of the Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater (TEOS-10) for oceanographic computations. Current version 3.6.21, requires Python >=3.11. It provides over 200 functions for oceanographic variables, including density, salinity, sound speed, potential temperature, etc. Release cadence is sporadic, following updates to the TEOS-10 algorithms.

data

pip install gsw

github ↗package ↗homepage ↗docs ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · GSW

gsw

datapythonv3.6.21

harness data pending

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

No compatibility data collected yet for this library.

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

gsw

✓ import gsw

There is no common wrong import; just import gsw and use gsw.<function>()

Compute absolute salinity and conservative temperature from practical salinity and pressure.

import numpy as np import gsw # Example: compute absolute salinity from practical salinity SP = np.array([35.0, 35.5, 36.0]) p = np.array([0, 10, 100]) # pressure in dbar lon = np.array([-150, -150, -150]) lat = np.array([30, 30, 30]) SA = gsw.SA_from_SP(SP, p, lon, lat) print(SA) # Example: conservative temperature from potential temperature (0 dbar reference) CT = gsw.CT_from_pt(SA, 15.0) print(CT)

Debug

Known issues

gotchaGSW functions expect numpy arrays; passing plain Python lists may raise errors in some operations.

fix

Convert inputs to numpy arrays (e.g., np.array([...])).

affects: all

breakinggsw 3.0+ dropped support for Python <3.11. If you are on an older Python version, pin to gsw<3.0.

fix

Upgrade Python to 3.11+ or install gsw==2.x with pip install 'gsw<3'.

affects: >=3.0

deprecatedSome older function names (e.g., gsw.rho, gsw.alpha) have been renamed to use TEOS-10 standard names (e.g., gsw.rho_t_exact, gsw.alpha_wrt_CT_exact).

fix

Check the documentation for the exact function name; the old names are still available but may be removed in future.

affects: >=2.0

gotchaPressure must be in dbar (decibars), not in Pa. Many newcomers mistakenly pass pressure in Pa.

fix

Convert Pa to dbar by dividing by 10000.

affects: all

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ImportError: No module named gsw

gsw not installed or Python environment not activated.

fix

Run 'pip install gsw' in the correct environment.

TypeError: ufunc '...' not supported for the input types

Inputs are not numpy arrays or have incompatible dtypes (e.g., strings).

fix

Ensure all inputs are numeric numpy arrays: e.g., SP = np.array([34, 35], dtype=float).

ValueError: Invalid input: pressure must be non-negative

Negative pressure values are not physically meaningful for ocean depths.

fix

Check data; pressure must be >=0 dbar. For surface pressure use 0.

Upgrade

Version history

3.6.21latest on PyPI · released Feb 24, 2026

Audit

Dependencies

numpyrequiredAll array operations depend on numpy arrays

Agent activity

8 hits · last 30 days

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Resources

githubhttps://github.com/TEOS-10/GSW-python ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/gsw/ ↗

homepagehttps://www.teos-10.org/ ↗

docshttps://teos-10.github.io/GSW-Python/ ↗